Do you really know who you are as a business? There are many agencies that will provide a rebrand. But are they getting to the heart of who you actually are? For example, your proposition values? What you do, and how you say it?
Many agencies will ask you the basic questions, such as:
-
What is your USP?
-
Why do clients choose you over others?
-
What does your company do?
-
Who is your biggest competitor?
-
What is your biggest asset?
-
Who is your ideal customer?
Of course, we cover these too; they are hugely important. But what about the questions that get right under the skin of your company? The questions that you never knew about. The ones that are essential to uncovering the true essence of your brand strategy.
In today's world, few businesses can succeed without a profound reason for customers to choose your brand over another. It’s not enough to simply tell people about your products and services—they want to know what you stand for.
Why do you exist?
This is a BIG question, but the first step of any brand strategy is understanding why you are in this business. It all stems from this question. After all, people tend not to buy what you do but instead why you do it. The core of your business messaging not only elevates your brand but gives customers a more meaningful reason to do business with you. If you look at the brand giant Tesla, their why, also known as purpose, is ‘to accelerate the worlds transition to sustainable energy.’ It’s simple, but it’s powerful. It provides the brand with a nobility that people can buy into.
Building on this core statement of why you exist as a company, beyond making money, are clear statements of ‘what you do’ and how you do it differently and why it matters. By answering these questions, you create a true foundation for your brand.
What comes next?
At NU, we go beyond the basics and dig deeper into your business to help you understand your company in ways you perhaps hadn’t thought about before. We take everything we covered above and look at your business goals to develop a set of unique questions that are tailored and specific to you and your business. We help you look beyond tactical responses to problems. Ie. I need more sales = I need a new website.
We want to know who your audience is, what their needs are, how they gather information and make choices and how you as an organisation can resonate with them and gain their business and win their trust. To do that you need the underpinnings behind your brand, your values, language and proposition. This isn’t as simple as just listing some questions from a pre-filled list. We look at your company from a wider angle and drill into the things that make your customers tick. The main answers that need to come out of the process are:
-
Why do you exist?
-
Who are you?
-
How do you do things?
-
What do you do?
-
How do you look and sound?
The outcomes can be hugely unexpected.This highly-detailed and unique approach of research and interviews may take you on an unexpected journey, one you didn’t even know you needed to go on. It may even reveal that the thing you thought you needed isn’t what you actually need. Every process is tailored to your business because every company is different. In fact, we recently worked with a company that was going through a change in leadership and needed our help to define its growth plans and brand. After an in-depth brand project, they told us that we had in fact, answered the question that they didn’t know to ask.
Knowing how to move your brand forward is challenging when you’re so close to it. This is why you need an outside perspective, someone who is objective but understands brand fundamentals to guide you towards that lightbulb moment that gets you on track and helps you focus your brand and define your path forward.
Why it’s so important
By understanding your core values and business motivation, you will be able to understand and build a better vision for the future and communicate with your customers/clients on a deeper and more emotional level. This differentiates you from companies that focus on simply selling products to turn a profit and leverages you as a leader with purpose.
Simply put, it does the following:
Keeps your brand messaging consistent
By really understanding your brand motivation, values and strategy, you can use this to guide your company in all future plans. This is implemented in every aspect of the organisation, from customer service all the way through to your work culture. It will influence everything, including your correspondence, press, social media, content, advertising, marketing and tone of voice. It’s integral to your business.
It gives your business direction
You can establish the future of the brand by asking the right questions. Figuring out your intrinsic purpose means we can craft a clear path that aligns with your business goals.
It helps you stand out
Many companies are all about profits, which is important, but if you want to be a business that leads the way, you need more substance than that. Companies with a purpose are more likely to stand the test of time and build a loyal following with similar values. And over time, as your brand awareness grows, you’ll be easily distinguished from the crowd of competitors.
One of the most successful marketers, author Seth Godin, says, “The organizations that succeed realize that offering a remarkable product with a great story is more important and more profitable than doing what everyone else is doing just a bit better.”
So, we may not have a cut-and-dry list of what questions you need to ask to get to the root of your business brand goals. But hopefully, you see the benefits of using an agency to take you on a brand journey like no other.
We have over 17 years of experience guiding brands in answering the questions they didn’t know needed answering. And whilst it may be a daunting experience because you never know where the journey is going to take you. The process and the answers you get from it will be fundamental in helping you with your engagement, alignment, clarity and direction. Your business will be more successful and better for it.
So if you’re ready to discover the brand questions you never thought to ask, get in touch today.
